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Orchid ProDesigner II/MC

@0086.ADF Orchid Pro II/MC v2.0/HiColor
   Selectable ROM Address, Monitor Type, and Vertical scan frequency settings
@0086.ADF Orchid Pro II/MC - Tandberg Data
   Fixed ROM Address, Monitor Type, and Vertical scan frequency settings

ProDesigner_IIs_MC_21.zip Orchid ProDesigner IIs/MC (GP2300) Driver Disk 2.1 (zipped image)
ET-4000.zip ET4000 driver/utility package (zipped files only; "___" files are ZIP archives)
   Contains TVDIAG.EXE TsengLabs Diagnostic Test Program 1.0

Orchid ProDesigner IIs User's Manual (ISA/EISA only)
Orchid Technical Support Graphics Products Page (archived)

Orchid ProDesigner II/MC
Adapter ROM
Memory Supported
Oscillators
Why no Translation ROM?
ADF Sections

Orchid ProDesigner II/MC

PROII/MC-07043, ASSY NO. 830-0070-(11)-(C3), FAB-NO. 835-0070-1/C, FCC ID DDS7EF0291-91-PMC (photos by Lorenzo Mollicone)

ID1/ID2,ID3/ID4 pads for jumpers - set to ID2 and ID4 using shunts

No components are present on the solder side, aside from two bodged passives — R24 (relocated due to insufficient PLCC socket clearance) and a capacitor placed between pins 12 and 16 (AVDD and LF) of the clock generator U24 (probably 0.1 µF per datasheet).

Adapter ROM

2x 16Kx8? EPROM, DIP-32 (U15 - L, U27 - H)

"2.02 L" / "2.02 H" - ProDesigner II/MC BIOS v2.02 (ROM dump by Lorenzo Mollicone)

Note: The ROM images above were created by dumping the first 32 KB of the C000h segment from a host system and then dissecting them byte-wise to obtain the L and H images. This method should produce the same result as dumping the ROMs with an EEPROM programmer/reader, but the images have not been tested.

Memory Supported

The adapter is equipped with 8x 256Kx4 DRAM for a total of 1 MB. This is the maximum video memory capacity supported by the ET4000 controller.

The ET4000 also supports 16Kx4 and 256Kx4 DRAM, plus it supports 256Kx4 VRAM.

Oscillators

The earlier ProDesigner supported Hercules, MDA, CGA, EGA, -AND- VGA. Hence, the odd oscillator assortment. The ProDesigner II adapters are able to generate timings from the single clock (Y1 - 14.31818 MHz xtal) using a clock generator chip (U24 - CH9201).

Why no Translation ROM?

The ProDesigner II / MC supports VGA and better. It does NOT support Hercules, CGA and EGA. The Translation ROM has no purpose in this case.

ADF Sections for @0086h "Orchid Pro II/MC v2.0/HiColor"

NumBytes 3

FixedResources
   pos[0]=XXXX11XXb
   pos[2]=X01XXXXXb ; place VCO in known state

Adapter ROM BIOS Address
   Select 'Address C000 x 24K' for the standard DAC, 'Address C000 x 32K + HC' if the Sierra SC11482CV/SC11483CV HICOLOR DAC is installed. The SC1148x RAMDACs support 15bpp modes.With Sierra HICOLOR DAC support enabled, the ROM size increases from 24,576 bytes (24Kb) to 32,768 bytes (32Kb). If another adapter's resource setting is in conflict then the other adapter's resource setting must be changed to resolve the conflict.
     <Address C000 x 24K [C000- C5FF]>, C000 x 32K + HC [C000-C7FF], ROM Disabled

Monitor Type
   Select type of monitor connected to the ProDesigner II/MC.
     <Color>, Monochrome (gray scale)

Vertical scan frequency @ 640x480
   The ProDesigner II/MC can work with monitors that can operate at very high vertical scan rates. These higher rates can reduce video image flicker. If you are unsure if the monitor attached can operate at the higher rates at this resolution, do not change this setting. Instead, leave this setting at the default, '60Hz', then reboot the machine into DOS. Run MCSCREEN on the ProDesigner II/MC Option and Utility disk. This program allows you to dynamically change the resolutions and vertical scan rates generated by the ProDesigner II/MC. Use it to determine if the monitor can operate at the higher rates - making a note of the what resolutions, and rates, that worked with the monitor. Then re-run 'setup' on the reference disk and change this setting.
     <60Hz>, 72Hz

Vertical scan frequency @ 800x600
   The ProDesigner II/MC can work with monitors that can operate at very high vertical scan rates. These higher rates can reduce video image flicker. If you are unsure if the monitor attached can operate at the higher rates at this resolution, do not change this setting. Instead, leave this setting at the default, '56Hz', then reboot the machine into DOS. Run MCSCREEN on the ProDesigner II/MC Option and Utility disk. This program allows you to dynamically change the resolutions and vertical scan rates generated by the ProDesigner II/MC. Use it to determine if the monitor can operate at the higher rates - making a note of the what resolutions, and rates, that worked with the monitor. Then re-run 'setup' on the reference disk and change this setting
     <56Hz>, 60Hz, 72Hz

Vertical scan frequency @ 1024x768
   The ProDesigner II/MC can work with monitors that can operate at very high vertical scan rates. These higher rates can reduce video image flicker. If you are unsure if the monitor attached can operate at the higher rates at this resolution, do not change this setting. Instead, leave this setting at the default, '45Hz', then reboot the machine into DOS. Run MCSCREEN on the ProDesigner II/MC Option and Utility disk. This program allows you to dynamically change the resolutions and vertical scan rates generated by the ProDesigner II/MC. Use it to determine if the monitor can operate at the higher rates - making a note of the what resolutions, and rates, that worked with the monitor. Then re-run 'setup' on the reference disk and change this setting
     <45Hz - Interlaced>, 60Hz - Non-Interlaced, 70Hz - Non-Interlaced

Video I/O Cycle Select
   This should not be changed. It is for use by Orchid's manufacturing division.
     <Default >, Extended